We're not that far off....

[BDeCosta26]

Also, its pointless to say we will be a bad team next year as it's assume we will sit on our hands all summer and bring in no help.

Right, but we can acknowledge that it's possible the best move on the table will be to make the most of the draft picks, maybe make one or two modest buy-low signings, and head into next year with a very similar roster.

Absolutely we can. But I also think it's fair to say Ainge will try like hell to either get a top-tier player, or failing that, get a guy who fits in with this group and fits our projected time-table. Of course, if nothing works out in our favor and the best move is to stand pat, I trust Danny to do that.

Who's to say that Boogie stays put this year, the same thing happens in Sacto this season, and (if things fall our way) we end up with #5, #12 and #17 in next years draft. Certainly plausible. And that's a package no one is beating. If we can't make any good moves this year, so be it. We do what we can with our picks and save our cap space for next season.

I still think the majority of you are underestimating this group as it sits though. We went .500 (more or less) while for half the year we didn't even have the roster we currently have. This group was on a 56 win pace at the end of the year. They're obviously not doing that over a full season, but our record should improve from this year. 45 wins is a good number .

[chambers]

The negativity on this board stinks and it sucks.

Talent wise we are far off, but positioning wise, we are close.

Also, its pointless to say we will be a bad team next year as it's assume we will sit on our hands all summer and bring in no help.

Don't mistake negativity and pessimism for realism and fact.
We currently don't 'own' or hold many great players,  just a whole bunch of picks with potential.

There's a great chance that we strike gold, but there's just as much chance we don't go anywhere.

Now what can we be optimistic about ?
Our front office and their ability to leave no stone unturned. Doesn't mean there'll be anything under any stones though.

[Monkhouse]

I just hope we can bring in someone like LMA or Love. We need a superstar, and those guys can be that.

Our roster is void of talent, but hustle and hard working players that can be essential for championship teams.

[tarheelsxxiii]

I would be really happy with Butler, DeAndre, moving up into lottery to snag a scorer and/or athletic + defensive wing in the draft, and resigning Pierce for a last hurrah. I doubt any of those happen though. I'm excited for this off-season but don't expect to make a big splash. IT was a nice surprise though, so trying to remain optimistic. As long as we don't draft Dekker, Kaminsky, or someone 6'10 with a 205 lb frame, that'd be a relief too. 

I don't think of Love, LMA, or the guys I've listed as superstars. Top 5 in league are superstars, the next 10-15 are very, very good players. Highly doubt we win a championship with Love as the best player on our team. Think of all the teams in the league with a better 1, and even 1 + 2. I'm too brain-dead to list, but I'm sure there is more than 5... LeBron + Kyrie, Steph and Klay (Id argue Dray too), Duncan + Leonard, Paul + Griffin, Gasol + Zbo/Conley, Westbrook + Durant, maybe even Wall + Beal or Teague + Horford/Millsap. Dead serious. I get he is being trumped due to the culture, his limited/adjusted role, and nightly comparison to best player in the world. But he plays one end of the floor... that's crap, especially considering our need for frontcourt toughness and a two way guy. We don't compete without dominant, go-to scorer (2 way guy, too), but we need a rim protector even more than that. 

Edit: Don't mean to minimize your point, Monkhouse. I respect you as a poster and agree with a vast majority of your opinions. Just feeling like we need more than one of those guys - perhaps 2 is the magic number? And I do strongly agree with have great glue guys that are championship pieces.

[GC003332]

If Danny can't convince a couple of the top flight guys to partner up and do a quick fill out of the roster to get it in real contention over the summer, you are just wasting another year of those guys primes, remember when KG, PP and Ray teamed up it was thought to be a 3 to 4 year window of opportunity,Rondos' development stretched it to 5.
Whoever they target hopefully they are working on not just a few years of true contention.
That is where Ainge's track record of doing the quick turn around has got to play in his favour this summer.
Think big or roll over your assets for another year.

[Celtics18]

We're pretty far away from being a title contending team.  I don't really see any moves this off-season that will get us close.

However, we are off to a good start in the rebuild.  We have a great GM, a promising coach, and we seem to be building a positive culture with a few nice, young prospects.

I hope to continue to make the playoffs over the course of the next couple of years and see if we can build this into a contender by '18 or '19.

A lot can happen between now and then. 

[LarBrd33]

We aren't far from contending as long as you assume bringing in three all-stars is an easy thing to accomplish.

As-is, this is probably a 35-45 win roster. Without major additions, it would be a 50/50 shot of making the playoffs next year.

Throw all the pessimism you want at this thread, you can't deny that a .500 team is not far off.

A .500 team is not far off from the bottom, either. 

In fact, we're closer to the bottom (24 more wins) than we are to the top (27 less wins). 

[greece66]

Also, its pointless to say we will be a bad team next year as it's assume we will sit on our hands all summer and bring in no help.

Right, but we can acknowledge that it's possible the best move on the table will be to make the most of the draft picks, maybe make one or two modest buy-low signings, and head into next year with a very similar roster.

This is a likely scenario and the resulting team will be fun to watch.
Danny is sure to attempt signing a big name but it takes two to tango, and we are a good but not a top destination for FAs. Nothing wrong with hope, what I find tiring is the daily bombardment with whatever X journalist said as a credible rumour.

[moiso]

We aren't far from contending as long as you assume bringing in three all-stars is an easy thing to accomplish.

As-is, this is probably a 35-45 win roster. Without major additions, it would be a 50/50 shot of making the playoffs next year.

Throw all the pessimism you want at this thread, you can't deny that a .500 team is not far off.

45 wins is above .500.

[moiso]

The most certain good thing that we have going for us is the coach.  We have a couple potentially good players but it isn't certain that they will turn into more than role players.  We have cap space but it isn't certain that we will be able to sign allstar caliber players.  We have future draft picks but it isn't certain how good those picks will be or if they will lead to foundational players.

We need core players and right now we have none.  We have a lot of investments that could make us rich in the next few years or do nothing significant for us. 

Ainge did some very impressive groundwork but we are definitely not almost there.  We are still nowhere, really.

[Jailan34]

I see a lot of people on this blog talking about our stockpile of picks, but we lack any true quality picks. This isn't the NFL, 4 picks doesn't make a difference if they're all between 16 and 32. We would have to package all 4 picks to move up just to the 9-12 range. Quality wins in the NBA not quantity.

[Celtics4ever]

Yes, we are that far off.

1) Other teams were tanking, they won't be next year, I think our stellar late season play has to be judged in that context.  They will improve and they have a higher pick.

2) We got swept in the playoffs.   I know the games were close but it seemed like a cat playing with a mouse and the CAVs didn't go all out on us.  They expended just enough energy to beat us nothing more.

3) We are already a team in flux.  Several guys who were critical down the stretch are leaving.

4) How many of these guys do you think are keepers for a contending team?

That being said Ainge has some ammo to make deals.

We are not that far off from making the playoffs next year but I think it will be harder.   Contending though, that is not probable and I think it is folly to think we are close to that.  We have the bench players, we lack stars.   We have one person who can create his own shot reliably and that IT and he can be bothered by a taller and physical players as the CAVS shown.  This off-season is really critical for us.

[Smitty77]

I would be really happy with Butler, DeAndre, moving up into lottery to snag a scorer and/or athletic + defensive wing in the draft, and resigning Pierce for a last hurrah. I doubt any of those happen though. I'm excited for this off-season but don't expect to make a big splash. IT was a nice surprise though, so trying to remain optimistic. As long as we don't draft Dekker, Kaminsky, or someone 6'10 with a 205 lb frame, that'd be a relief too. 

I don't think of Love, LMA, or the guys I've listed as superstars. Top 5 in league are superstars, the next 10-15 are very, very good players. Highly doubt we win a championship with Love as the best player on our team. Think of all the teams in the league with a better 1, and even 1 + 2. I'm too brain-dead to list, but I'm sure there is more than 5... LeBron + Kyrie, Steph and Klay (Id argue Dray too), Duncan + Leonard, Paul + Griffin, Gasol + Zbo/Conley, Westbrook + Durant, maybe even Wall + Beal or Teague + Horford/Millsap. Dead serious. I get he is being trumped due to the culture, his limited/adjusted role, and nightly comparison to best player in the world. But he plays one end of the floor... that's crap, especially considering our need for frontcourt toughness and a two way guy. We don't compete without dominant, go-to scorer (2 way guy, too), but we need a rim protector even more than that. 

Edit: Don't mean to minimize your point, Monkhouse. I respect you as a poster and agree with a vast majority of your opinions. Just feeling like we need more than one of those guys - perhaps 2 is the magic number? And I do strongly agree with have great glue guys that are championship pieces.

PLEASE explain to me WHY you don't want Dekker?  Why???  Was ANYONE more clutch in the big NCAA tourney games??  If the Badgers needed a shot at a critical time, he simply delivered virtually EVERY time!!!!  Please educate me on this one. 

Thanks,

Smitty77

[Smitty77]

Yes, we are that far off.

1) Other teams were tanking, they won't be next year, I think our stellar late season play has to be judged in that context.  They will improve and they have a higher pick.

2) We got swept in the playoffs.   I know the games were close but it seemed like a cat playing with a mouse and the CAVs didn't go all out on us.  They expended just enough energy to beat us nothing more.

3) We are already a team in flux.  Several guys who were critical down the stretch are leaving.

4) How many of these guys do you think are keepers for a contending team?

That being said Ainge has some ammo to make deals.

We are not that far off from making the playoffs next year but I think it will be harder.   Contending though, that is not probable and I think it is folly to think we are close to that.  We have the bench players, we lack stars.   We have one person who can create his own shot reliably and that IT and he can be bothered by a taller and physical players as the CAVS shown.  This off-season is really critical for us.

Let's have this conversation AFTER Danny uses the $12.9 million TPE and the $7+ million TPE and after he trades Wallace to the 76ers with a first to give us over $31 million in cap room this year!!!!  This is THE YEAR to use all of this as EVERYONE (virtually) will have cap room NEXT year.  Did I mention after Danny is Danny and grabs at least two gems in the draft from our 4 picks??  Let's have this conversation again at the end of August, shall we???

Smitty77

[slamtheking]

Yes, we are that far off.

1) Other teams were tanking, they won't be next year, I think our stellar late season play has to be judged in that context.  They will improve and they have a higher pick.

2) We got swept in the playoffs.   I know the games were close but it seemed like a cat playing with a mouse and the CAVs didn't go all out on us.  They expended just enough energy to beat us nothing more.

3) We are already a team in flux.  Several guys who were critical down the stretch are leaving.

4) How many of these guys do you think are keepers for a contending team?

That being said Ainge has some ammo to make deals.

We are not that far off from making the playoffs next year but I think it will be harder.   Contending though, that is not probable and I think it is folly to think we are close to that.  We have the bench players, we lack stars.   We have one person who can create his own shot reliably and that IT and he can be bothered by a taller and physical players as the CAVS shown.  This off-season is really critical for us.

pretty much this.

I disagree a bit on the Cavs series -- they seemed to put the effort into getting off to a great start but could never really put the C's away.  some of that's due to them easing up a bit during the games but some of that was due to the effort by the C's to compete.  C's were outclassed talent-wise, no argument there, but this series wasn't a 4-game stretch of blowouts that a number of posters here predicted.

what I really agree with is the first point --  a lot of teams worse than us will get a solid talent in this year's draft and also have other solid players to build with either from prior drafts or proven players returning from injuries. 

If the C's stand pat in terms of FAs or just keeping their current picks, they will not enjoy the same success they had at the end of this season after the trades.  The C's could very well end up back in the lottery next year just as easily as sliding back into the playoffs as a bottom seed. 

I do think though that with the possibility of 4 first rounders in the next draft (and having a high Sixers second rounder again not to mention a plethora of other second rounders) that the C's would be well positioned to wheel-and-deal to either move up in that draft or trade for top talent.  Brooklyn's pick is unprotected and likely in the lottery, C's have their own which could very well be in the lottery, Dallas is only top 7 protected and they could very well be in the lottery and Minny has a nice young core in place and adding another top lottery pick this year so they could (a bit of a stretch but possible) finish high enough to lose the pick's protection and give us a pick at the end of the lottery or mid-teens.  THAT would be a helluva package to offer for someone like Cousins without having to give up any other solid talent we have (or other picks).